Tommy's X Factor (Season 8)
The ''eighth season ''of the tengaged version of The X Factor was announced on January 14, 2018 immediately following season 7. Applications for auditions opened a few days later, with the premiere episode taking place on Saturday January 18, 2019. Tommy, Drake, and Aili James all returned from the previous season as judges, Chris (chris2pei) will also return this season as the fifth live show judge. Melinda had stepped down as a judge, but served as a guest judge in the first two episodes of the show. However, after much speculation it was revealed that Carly Jay would be returning after a four season hiatus on the show. The winner was announced as Christina Grimmie (brandonh1) giving Tommy his fourth win as a winning mentor. Selection Process The applications for the eighth season of The X Factor opened on Wednesday 16 January, 2019. It has been stated that the auditions round will remain the same as seasons past. Each hopeful had to receive a majority 3 or 4 'YES' votes from the judges to make it through to the next stage of the competition: the Six-Chair Challenge. Auditions Auditions began airing on January 18, 2019 'Episode #1 (January 18th)' 'Episode #2 (January 19th)' 'Episode #3 (January 20th)' 'Episode #4 (January 21st)' 'Episode #5 (January 22nd)' 'Episode #6 (January 23rd)' Six-Chair Challenge The six chair challenge returned once more, once the artist had performed the mentor of each category will decide who will be getting one of six seats in their category moving forward. Once the seats were filled, the mentors were able to swap their acts out. This season also featured the introduction of the golden buzzer. Each mentor got to give one of their own acts a 'safe seat' ensuring they get a place in the judges homes round. At the end of the last auditions episode, it was revealed that Tommy would mentor the Girls for the first time in eight seasons, Carly Jay would mentor the Boys for her first time, Drake would mentor the Over 30s for his third time and Aili James would mentor the Groups for his third time. Key: : – Contestant was immediately eliminated after performance without taking a seat : – Contestant was switched out from their seat and eliminated from the competition : – Contestant was chosen to have a seat, advancing them to the judge cuts : – Contestant was given the golden buzzer from their mentor ensuring them a spot at their Judges Home 'Episode #7 (January 26th)' 'Episode #8 (January 27th)' 'Episode #9 (January 28th)' 'Episode #10 (January 29th)' 'Episode #11 (January 30th)' 'Judges' Homes' Each judge took their category to a location around the world, each act had to sing for their judge who has the final say in which contestants make the live shows. Like last season, each mentor could select three acts each to move on to the live shows. However Chris, as the impartial live show judge also had a say on who would join the live shows. It was revealed, like last season, that he would pick one act eliminated in either the six chair challenge or the judges' homes per category to make them the fourth member of their category. The act selected for the wild card would still be mentored by their original mentor, but Chris gets to decide who is the wildcard. Finalists The finalists were announced on Saturday February 2nd, 2019 Key: - Winner - Runner-Up - Third Place - Eliminated Results Chart ;Colour key - Contestant was in the bottom two/three and had to face the judges vote in the final showdown - Contestant received the lowest combined judged ranking and was immediately eliminated (no final showdown). - Contestant received the lowest combined judges ranking and was immediately eliminated. - Contestant received the highest combined judges ranking. Top 16 Performance Shows (February 4th + 5th) *Theme: The Right Decision (Songs showing that the judges made the right choice) *Musical Guests: 4th Power + Celine Dion *Musical Performance: 4th Power ("Bohemian Rhapsody") and Celine Dion ("The Power Of Love") Top 16 Elimination Show (February 6th) Top 14 Performance Show (February 7th + 8th) *Theme: Love (Songs about love) *Musical Guests: Dalton Harris *Musical Performances: Dalton Harris ("Beneath Your Beautiful") Top 14 Elimination Show (February 10th) Top 12 Performance Show (February 11th + 12th) *Theme: "Putting On A Show" (Songs Giving Us A Big Performance) *Musical Guests: Shawn Mendes *Musical Performance: Shawn Mendes ("Lost In Japan")